The Death of the Virgin, from the The Life of the Virgin

The Death of the Virgin, from the The Life of the Virgin by Albrecht Dürer, is a profound example of German Renaissance graphic arts, created in 1510. This pivotal piece is executed as a woodcut, a medium Dürer elevated to new expressive heights. It belongs to his major series, The Life of the Virgin, which comprised nineteen subjects and a title page, and was instrumental in revolutionizing the distribution and accessibility of religious prints across Europe.

The scene captures the solemn moment of the Virgin Mary’s final hours, a subject central to late medieval and early modern devotion. Dürer situates the event within a detailed interior, giving the sacred moment the intimacy of a domestic setting. The atmosphere is heavy with sadness, conveyed through the gestures and facial expressions of the surrounding figures. The composition focuses on the communal grief of the apostles, the faithful men who gather around the bed. They attend to the dying figure of the Virgin Mary, one offering a candle, another sprinkling holy water, meticulously detailing the traditional ritual of last rites.

Dürer’s masterful handling of the woodcut technique is evident in the precise lines and varied textures used to differentiate materials, from the wooden structure of the room to the drapery of the figures' robes. This depiction of the Virgin’s passing is both human in its portrayal of loss and theological in its implication of eternal life, as heavenly figures appear in the upper register to receive her soul. As one of the most recognized and widely reproduced religious prints from the early sixteenth century, this impression of The Death of the Virgin is held within the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.